After you retired?

[Way2slow]

Don't know your finances but there is always a need for a good machinist.  There are CNC mills and lathes that can be picked up at reasonable prices.  Then you could work at your own pace.

 

I've been fully retired for seven years and still haven't gotten totally used to it. 

[Log Catcher]

19 hours ago, 12poundbass said:

I'll be completely honest and say I have no retirement plan set up yet and it scares the hell out of me. In my twenties I/we were irresponsible with our money and had the can't take it with you when you go mindset. Then pile on the credit cards (I got my first one ever at 30) and it became a deep hole. We weren't completely irresponsible all our bills were paid and we were paying down our house.

 

We recently sold our house and made just over a six figure profit. With that we paid off all our debts, bought a much needed second vehicle (I have a company truck which is how we've made it with one forever) and still have a ton left for a nice down payment for a house. The down payment money could put us in the extremely nice house category, but we've been humbled by our poor decisions in our twenties so were not going huge and extravagant, but small and quaint. Our son is 8, he's our one and only, so we're looking long term after he's out of the house, kind of house. 

 

So at 35 I'm currently debt free (until we find a house) and it's a great feeling, and I'm glad we've been given a second chance. We're going to focus on retirement now. My company doesn't contribute squat so I can't count on that, but I'm going to enroll in it because it's something. My wife is soul searching for her career. We've been fortunate because my income basically pays for everything but a tiny bit so when she finds her new career that's extra money we can use to catch up on the retirement. 

I failed to mention in my post I was working for the school board. I had 21 years with them. I was lucky I had decent benefits and retirement from the state. Finding a job that offers good benefits is your best option I believe but not many companies want to do that now. My wife retired from a job that had zero benefits. We both draw social security plus my retirement to live on but we will be okay. Good luck in getting things going better for you.

[Harold Scoggins]

On ‎11‎/‎2‎/‎2018 at 12:58 PM, SDoolittle said:

Do I miss it? Not exactly. I do miss the soldiers, and I miss the adventure, but I absolutely do not miss certain aspects of Army life at all.

I retired from the Army, took a 4 year break, and then retired from teaching Math in 2017. There's not a day that goes by where I don't think about my time in the military, I miss it.

I almost look forward to the "last roll call," so I can see my friends again.

Like @A-Jay said, "That's my story and I'm stick'in to it."

[Way2slow]

I'm just the opposite, I retired in 1996 from the military with 22.5 years, have not missed it for one minute.  I was going to stay to 26, but right after I was selected for promotion and re-enlisted, they said they were going to assign me to Mississippi and I said no you're not.  Turned down the assignment and the promotion and was a civilian six months later.  I had to give them a six month notice, but with my accrued leave and other retirement benefits, the following day was my last active duty day.  I had already bought a house, moved the family and a business to GA, and gone to work in a civilian job when my retirement date finally rolled around. 

I had a GS11, civil service job available at a base near were I moved to and wouldn't even take it, wanted nothing else to do with the military

[Oregon Native]

Good stories....been retired for about four years now (am 68) due to pancreatitis doing it's job.  Could and should have been fertilizer but dodged a bullet.  Life style and values changed too...especially when we lost daughter to cancer during this time too.  Won't go into the money thing....the above made a big dent.  But life is good...today is good.  Will see what the good Lord brings us tomorrow.  Fingers are crossed we can handle it.

[Brad Reid]

I thought I'd share something I used to tell potential clients with grossly under-funded retirement accumulations, often in first interviews. It often worked like magic. They'd often show up around age 55, about 10 years before retirement age, when they couldn't put the inevitable off any longer.

 

I'd say, "Live like no one else will for 3 years, live like no else can for the rest of your life."

 

I'd develop the theme, a road map from there and it gave people relief, hope. What I often found would be two people, a husband and wife, with combined incomes often exceeding $100,000 after taxes, kids grown and out of college. It wasn't an income issue for them, per se, it almost always related to spending, budgeting. And, I'd expose them with the next question:

 

"Give me your monthly budget, how do you spend your income?"

 

The standard answer would be: "$1500 on our mortgage including taxes and insurance, $500 on medical insurance, one car payment of $250, $500 on food, $250 on utilities . . ." and on and on they'd go until they ran out of things that popped into their heads. It'd often add up to $5,000 a month. They'd run out of ideas.

 

"Anything else?" They'd say, "No, nothing else comes to mind." And, I'd say so your after-tax income is $8,333 a month, you can name only $5,000 in living expenses . . . what of the other $3,333?"

 

These couples would look at each other and you could see the question marks in their expressions. I'd end the suspense by saying something to the effect that "there are $3,333 worth of expenditures that you can't even put a name to and yet they have taken precedence over investing toward retirement for the last many decades."

 

Anyway, we'd do budget work from there, move retirement savings "up" on the list of monthly things to pay giving it priority over the "unnameable."

 

Saving the $3,333 each month for a decade in a tax-deferred account, using 8% returns from a balanced fund, would accumulate over $600,000. No, not super wealthy, but by then with a paid off mortgage, Social Security checks, they wouldn't end up like mendicant pigeons. With a paid off home, a few other assets, they might even be millionaires.

 

The "live like no one else will for 3 years, live like no one else can for the rest of your life" works in cases where clients need to sort of go very "minimalist" and shed big chunks of thoughtless "luggage" we all seem to accumulate to some extent. This is harder core than just saving money that is thoughtlessly spent. This might entail selling almost everything, moving into an efficiency apartment, dropping down to one car, eating at home and not out at restaurants, etc. For many, this might allow them to save $50,000 a year.

 

Perversely, at the end of 3 years, they might find themselves happier without all of the pressure of life's "luggage," and continue forward in a modified version of this lifestyle.

 

Anglers should understand this. It is very similar to cleaning out and organizing our tackle boxes. Lots and lots in them that we never needed, don't want, can do without.

 

Brad

 

 

 

 

[Way2slow]

Brad Reid, sounds like we have a little in common.  I worked with mostly teachers in one of the larger Texas school districts and many teachers had never done anything but Teach, all they had was their state TRS fund and didn't understand it at all.  Having not worked a job in the social security system, that was not an option for them at retirement.   Many had no other forms of savings and when you sit down with them and do the numbers, you show them where they either won't be retiring when they think they will, or be like so many other retired teachers, forced to get another job or substitute teach.

[NYWayfarer]

At 53 retirement is close enough to taste but still sooooo far away. My wife and I have been great at avoiding the pitfalls of most people nowadays. No credit card debt and student loans long ago paid off. We are very good at living frugal. Our son is still young (15 years old) but he is in a program where he will graduate high school and a year later will receive a 2 year degree in IT or advanced manufacturing for free. One of the benefits of living in this state if you know how to take advantage of it.

 

I will miss what I do. I manage a trust for folks with disabilities. It helps keep them in their homes rather than go into institutional care. I worked for a bank for 15 years before this and they laid me off without blinking an eye. Making more money for big corporations was soul sucking work. Now I make a difference in people’s lives. 

 

 

[lo n slo]

i miss the guys, not the job. now, me and a friend work part time doing side jobs, hit the gym in the mornings, do alot of fishing. i love it. stress is way down now and the Lord has blessed me with relatively good health. 

[Bluebasser86]

On 11/2/2018 at 1:26 PM, TOXIC said:

Not to detract from the OP but I would be interested to know how many of the young guns on this site are planning for retirement?  I can say I didn't really think about it until I got my Government job 34 years ago and discovered they would match my 5% savings with another 5%.  That's free $$ and I was smart enough to take advantage of it.  My agency has increased benefits due to the job we do and I will end up with the following sources of income in retirement.

 

1. Pension (annunity) FERS

2. TSP (Thrift Savings Plan)

3. Social Security (because of FERS and not CSRS)

4. Private Investments (inheritance re-invested)

 

This does not include any of my wife's savings/retirement accounts.  It's not that hard to set yourself up for later in life but my wife as a mortgage loan lender tells me that very, very, few of the applicants she sees have any kind of savings or retirement.  Even less for the younger generations.  It is a very scary thought that they are not setting themselves up for the future.  

 

Savings not so much, but I've been putting in the max amount my employer allows and they match that amount since I started in LE when I was 21 (32 now). I'll be eligible for full retirement from my current department with all the benefits for my wife and I for the rest of our lives, when I'm 53 and have 30 years of service with them. Once things are paid off like my wife's student loans and some other foolish debts we got ourselves into, then we'll be able to save some money as well. 

 

My career isn't glamorous, it's tasking on the mind, body, and soul some days, but I'm sticking with it knowing that if it doesn't kill me first it will allow us to live a good life when the work is done. 

[Tennessee Boy]

On 11/4/2018 at 8:25 AM, Brad Reid said:

Anglers should understand this. It is very similar to cleaning out and organizing our tackle boxes. Lots and lots in them that we never needed, don't want, can do without.

Good advice @Brad Reid

 

If I told you how much money I make,  I don't think you would be impressed.  I don't think anyone would be impressed with the six year old truck that I bought used,  my 2300 sq foot home,  or my aluminum bass boat with a 90HP outboard. You might however be impressed with how much money I have saved for retirement.  My truck gets me where I want to go,  our house is bigger than we need,  and if I don't catch fish it's not because of my boat.  I've lived modestly and made savings a priority since I got out of college.  I work,  my wife works, and our savings work.  Most years,  our savings makes more money than we do.  Compounded investment returns can make anyone rich.  Credit card interest can make anyone poor.  It's a lesson everyone learns eventually.  

 

It seems like most of the post on this web site are from people asking for advice on what tackle to buy.  I assume the goal is to catch more fish.  My plan for catching more fish is to retire in my fifties and replace working with fishing.  That sometimes means I have to smack the bait monkey upside the head when he starts messing with me.

[Scott F]

One thing I haven’t seen talked about in this retirement discussion is health insurance. One you hit 65, Medicare will be a big help. For those who want to retire sooner, or if your spouse won’t be 65, the cost of health insurance alone might keep guys working longer than they were hoping. I was lucky in that part of my pension helps me pay for part of my health insurance but that pension benefit only covered half the cost for my wife and myself. Without the Affordable Care Act, and the subsidy we got, I would not have been able to afford health insurance even with my pension benefit. I know if I’d have been on the hook for the entire cost of my insurance, I could have easily used that money to make the payments on a brand new fully rigged Ranger with cash left over. 

No one knows how much health insurance will cost in the future, but keep it in mind while doing your planning. 

[Way2slow]

Tennessee Boy, I don't even use the term "how much I make" mines more like how little I make.  I came from a large family, my biological father was a fulltime professional gambler until he became a fulltime acholic deadbeat.  The man I referred to as My dad was really my stepfather who married my mother with six small kids (I was four with two younger bothers and three older) when he was a private in the Marines.  The man was always able to come up with some method of having food on the table and at least having us something under the Christmas tree.  A man I totally respected and had a great admiration for as I grew up, but money we didn't have.

When you are not raised with a descent financial background, sometimes it's hard to understand money.  That's stuff you need to have a good time and buy all those things you want, but don't really need.  The more you make, the more and better toys you can have.  You are not thinking about 30-40 years down the road, there is not a thought in your head that someday, if you don't kill yourself from some stupid stunt, you might get old and tired of working, or unable to work.  Then comes along a wife, and some kids to go along with all those expensive toys and things you like.  Not enough income left over to even think about saving and all the stock market is, is something you hear them talk about on the television. 

Next thing you know, you're having your fiftieth birthday and things start to sink in, it's not going to be long before you will be retiring (or wishing you could) and start doing a little financial evaluation.  That's when you go into the financial crises mode, but about 20 to 25 years later than you should have.  That's also about the same time you start well, I could always pickup some side work or get a part time job, but guess what, not many companies want to hire old farts, or you may not have the physical ability to "work".

I have my military retirement, social security and a small savings I managed to put together during that financial crises mode that's enough to keep me out of the soup line but nothing to brag about. 

One saving grace it my medical insurance, my insure through the military along with medicare pays almost all medical expenses, but not dental, so that still bites.

[Tennessee Boy]

@Scott F I hear you.  Health insurance cost make no sense to me.  There is an area outside of Nashville where my wife and I have talked about retiring to.  Health insurance would cost us $9,000 more a year there than in Nashville.  The crazy thing is,  people who live there go to Nashville if they need expensive surgery or cancer treatments.  If we ever move there,  it will have to be after Medicare kicks in for us.  

[Brad Reid]

As a retired Certified Financial Planner and pension consultant, I'll tell you one more anecdote related to something I used to tell prospective clients, younger ones. I always told them that almost everything they will have when they retire will be obtained "one payment at a time." So, I start by telling them what I always found when talking to retirees. It went like this, interviews with people right at retirement age:

 

"Do you own a home?"   "Yes, we paid off our mortgage about 5 years ago."

 

"Do you have a pension?" "Yes, I worked for XYZ for 20 years and I get $XXX a month."

 

"Do you have an IRA, a 401(k)?" "Yes, We put the $2000 a year away for both of us whenever we qualified for IRAs. And, my wife has a 401(k) she contributed to for 20 years."

 

"Do you own a business?" "Yes, I began as a plumber, built my business up to the point where I had a dozen plumbers working for me. I sold my company for $XXX when I retired."

 

"Do you receive SS?" "Yes, I get $XXX and my wife receives $XXX, too."

 

Then, I'd ask:

 

"Have you ever won a lottery?" "No." 

 

"Have ever made money speculating in commodities or options?" "No, lost a bit there actually."

 

"How about tax shelters?" "Well, we owned a few and, man, did they ever cut our taxes . . . since we lost so much money!"

 

"Horse race gambling, Vegas?" "No, but we had a bit of fun losing!"

 

And, on and on.

 

*** The whole exercise was to share with younger people an understanding that almost all of their net worth at retirement age will be acquired "one payment at a time." When you buy a home, a bit of the principal is paid off month by month. The home will likely go up in value, so there is a major asset building for someone compared to, say, a renter. Social Security? You build it one paycheck after another. Pension? IRA? 401(k)? 403(b)? All the same. Business? More often than not, built brick by brick over many years.

 

To this, if you get lucky, I suppose the one thing that might become a major percentage of one's net worth in retirement might be an inheritance. But, still, look at how it was built before it was passed along to you!

 

Brad

[Chris at Tech]

I think my wife and I are a bit ahead of the curve here.  Two 401k maxed out yearly since we started our careers at 22/23, max contributions to Roth IRA each year, an investment fund and three 529 funds getting good chunks each month.  

 

I’d had wanted to sit down with a financial planner since I was around 30 but just never did it til 35.  I wish I did it sooner, and I would recommend this for younger folks.  Don’t be fooled into thinking you need a huge portfolio to do this.  Bring the data on your current financial situation, talk about your financial goals and work together to assemble a plan to get there.  

[TOXIC]

When I took my job with the government 34 years ago, I didn't plan on it as a career.  When the opportunity to go from a year to year employment contract to a career status employee arose I bit the bullet and took it even though I had to give up over 40k per year.  At that point in time I made a promise to myself that no matter where they sent me, no matter what I was assigned to do, I was taking this job into retirement.  I flew to DC, was sworn in, accepted my appointment and it's been my focus to retire with my eye on the golden ring which is now 231 days, 6 hours, 22 minutes and 41 seconds away.  I was blessed to make it to the SES ranks and taking advantage to the benefits offered, which will afford me some comfort in retirement.  Start young, no matter how little you can put away and forget it.  I don't even look at the statements when they come in the mail.  I don't get freaked out on the latest market ups and downs because I know I invested for the long haul and have recently redistributed my assets for the short haul.   

[Scott F]

For you retired guys, and others if it happens to you. Do you dream about being back at the job you retired from?  I had lunch with two other retired friends who, like me dream about their old jobs. We all had variations on the same dream. One friend, who used to be a truck driver, dreams he’s driving on a road that becomes a dead end and he can’t turn around. The other guy was a house painter and he dreams he has a huge project that he has only a short time to finish and he has forgotten about the job  I dream that I have to repair some equipment that I’m not familiar with and don’t know how to fix. None of us dream about easy days at work, it’s always about things that go wrong. I was curious if this happens to other retirees or others who are still working.  

[Russ E]

I retired three years ago. I have crazy dreams of work all the time.

I used to program robots. I have one recurring dream about trying to program a robot and it picks me up and swings me around like a rag doll. Then I wake up. not sure what it means, but i have no desire to go back to work.

[Log Catcher]

I have had several different dreams about being back at work. What I don't understand is why did I start having so many crazy dreams when I retired. I didn't have dreams very often when I was still working. If my knees weren't so bad I wouldn't mind working part time.

[jbmaine]

Been retired over a year, still have anxious dreams about work. It's a big step leaving the work force after all those years.

[livin2fish]

Was retired at 60 due to corporate merger.  Loved the work.  Have never missed it for a moment.  Have been lucky with good health.  Fish and golf and have about 2 acres of yard work in the warm months which keeps me busy enough.  18 years of retirement bliss.  Thank you corporate merger.

[the reel ess]

I am not retired, but my wife, who is a teacher, will be eligible for full retirement in a little more than 2 years. She says she may retire after three or she may hang on for 5 because that will be when my daughter graduates HS. I'm not going to work much longer than she works. Money shouldn't be an issue. My wife's aunt was really generous with us in her will. We cared for her in her last years. I'd really love to retire while I'm young enough to enjoy myself. And the way I do that is to go fishing, among other things. My dad retired at 56 and had 18 pretty good years left. He passed rather unexpectedly. My mom didn't have as many good years. Life is short and you really never know how it's going to play out for you.

 

As for adjusting to not going to work everyday...I work from home now. I go into the office, which is an 80 minute drive away, about once every two months. I'm used to not seeing the people I work with face-to-face.

[papajoe222]

I retired at age 59, nine years ago, from a job I'd held with the same company for 33yrs.  I loved what I did, but the risk of potential, career ending injury increased as I got older. Like Mike, my grandson was a big reason why I chose early retirement.

I still miss the guys I worked with and the driving part of the job and my body misses the daily work out. The only thing I don't miss is working out in the cold.

I've done odd jobs since, just to keep busy and drive a party bus a few times a month.

Yea, I still dream about the job with regularity, but they're the kind that bring a smile to my face. I was very lucky when I found that job.

[Buckeye Ron]

I retired two years ago, a full five years before I had planned to retire. Primary reason was my wife’s health, a long story I won’t go into. I have flip flopped countless times as to how I feel about retirement. The bulk of the time I really do not like it. I was a safety manager and was very passionate about my work, and I miss the interaction I had every day with the employees. I hated the stress and all the reporting I had to do to executive management, but loved the ordinary people who mattered. 

 

Maybe if I had a part time gig doing something I liked retirement would be more enjoyable. Hard to say at this point. All I know is I went from being responsible for the health and safety of 3000 people to twiddling my thumbs and I don’t like it at all.